This invention relates to actuating cylinders and in particular to fluid pressure operated actuating cylinders used to operate such functions as vehicle clutches.
There is a long standing requirement to provide such an actuating cylinder which is both cheap to produce and easy to quickly mount in its operational position on a vehicle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an actuating cylinder which meets the above requirements.
Thus according to the present invention there is provided a fluid pressure operated actuating cylinder for mounting in an aperture in a wall of a vehicle, the cylinder comprising a body having first abutment means with a first locating surface facing in a first direction and a second deflectable abutment means which acts as a first snap connector and is axially spaced from the first abutment means and has a second locating surface facing in a second direction generally opposite to said first direction, said first and second locating surfaces being arranged to contact respective first and second oppositely directed to surfaces of said wall after insertion of said cylinder through said aperture with consequential deflection of said second abutment means to locate said cylinder in said aperture.
Such an actuating cylinder can easily be mounted on the vehicle by simply inserting the cylinder through the aperture which deflects the second abutment means as the cylinder passes through the aperture and allows the second abutment means to snap out into contact with the second wall surface after insertion thus fully locating the cylinder in the aperture.
The first abutment means is preferably in the form of a number of radially projecting tabs circumferentially spaced locations around the body.
The second abutment means preferably comprises a number of radially extending deflectable lugs at circumferentially spaced locations around the body.
The body is also preferably provided with a number of longitudinally extending ribs at circumferentially spaced locations around the body for contact with the sides of the aperture.
The body is preferably provided with one or more locating formations for engagement with co-operating formations on the wall to prevent rotation of the cylinder within the aperture.
The first and second abutment means are preferably braced against the contacting wall surfaces by deflection of one or both of the abutment means to hold the cylinder against the vibration relative to the wall. Flexibility of one or both of the abutment means may be used to filter vibrations to prevent them reaching the pedal.
The first and second abutment means and any ribs or formations employed may be formed integrally with the cylinder body.
Alternatively, and preferably, the first and second abutment means and any ribs or formations employed may be formed on a separate sleeve-like mounting support which encircles the actuator body proper and is secured thereto, for example, by a second snap connector means.
Such a separate sleeve-like component enables the cylinder body proper to be of a cheaper construction and enables the same mounting support to be used for a number of different cylinder bodies. Alternatively, the same cylinder body can be used for different vehicle applications simply by using a different mounting support.
The invention is applicable both to master cylinders and slave cylinders and the cylinder body proper and/or the mounting support member can conveniently be moulded from plastics material, although this is not essential.